Double trouble

Richt hopes two-quarterback system works even better this season

David Greene, right, and D.J. Shockley work in drills Monday during the Bulldogs' first day of practice. Georgia coach Mark Richt said Greene and Shockley get along so well that their relationship helps the two-quarterback system succeed. In fact, Richt hopes to expand the quarterback rotation this season.

Jeff Blake/Staff Mark Richt doesn't wait for the question anymore.

In preseason speeches from Atlanta to Birmingham, Ala., this summer, the Georgia coach made an issue of his two-quarterback rotation before anyone could.

"Our quarterback situation is as good as any in the nation," he told more than 200 media members at SEC Media Days last month. "David Greene is one of the best players in the country, and (D.J.) Shockley has the potential to be just as good."

If nothing else, one season of using the much-maligned two-quarterback system has left Richt, Greene and Shockley better equipped to handle the questions.

"Last year there was so much uncertainty about how both of us would handle it, how the team would handle it,'' Greene said. "I think the season said a lot for itself."

The Bulldogs won the 2002 SEC Championship, their first in two decades, while rotating quarterbacks in 10 of 14 games. Still, the system is drawing questioning glances again heading into the 2003 season.

"I guess it'll always be a topic of discussion," Richt said.

Richt is blessed not only with two talented quarterbacks but also two quiet quarterbacks. If there are any simmering frustrations about playing time, neither player has allowed them to surface.

"All it takes is one of those guys to say this really stinks and you've got yourself a controversy," Richt said. "But they love Georgia, they like each other and they can handle the pounding from the media on the issue."

Greene, a junior who is the reigning All-SEC quarterback and a player who could be in the Heisman Trophy race before he leaves Athens, has never hinted publicly that he resents giving up playing time despite being the school's most prolific underclassman passer.

Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley hopes to avoid injury this year so he can see more playing time in the Bulldogs' quarterback rotation.

Jeff Blake/Staff

"Shockley and I get along great," he said. "It would be different if you had two guys who didn't like each other and didn't respect each other. We accept our roles."

Shockley turned his back on the opportunity to transfer this summer.

"If I've ever been frustrated, it's been with myself," he said. "What happens is strictly on me. If I play well, I'll play more."

The Bulldogs not only are sticking with the rotation, they are also expanding it, Richt said. As long as Shockley doesn't miss four games due to injury as he did last year, he will play more this year, Richt said. Shockley said he'd like to play 50 percent of the snaps this year, but he will be happy as long as he plays more than he did last year.

How much Shockley will play and when hasn't been determined. He completed 32 of 52 passes last year for 415 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.

"It's not going to be etched in stone, but he'll be playing a good bit," Richt said.

Last year, Richt started the season rotating the quarterbacks by series, giving each a certain number of predetermined opportunities per game. However, by the end of the season he had scratched that system for a more subjective approach. He will stick with the latter this year, rotating the quarterbacks based on who's playing well and what the situation dictates. That system allows the quarterbacks to relax more and not worry about forcing the issue on the last drive of their turn, Greene said.

Georgia quarterback David Greene, a junior who is the reigning All-SEC quarterback, could be in the Heisman Trophy race before he leaves Athens.

Jeff Blake/Staff

"He doesn't want us thinking," Greene said. "He just wants us to go out there and play the game."

Greene completed 218 of 379 passes for 2,924 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions last year. Despite sharing time, he has thrown for more yards in his first two seasons than any Georgia player. His 5,713 yards ranks fourth on the Bulldogs' career passing list. He is 1,481 yards ahead of where the school's all-time leading passer, Eric Zeier, was at the same point in his career.

Maintaining that pace, though, will be difficult if he continues to surrender more time to Shockley. Still, not a discouraging word is heard.

"It worked out last year," Greene said. "We won a lot of games with that approach so we'll stick with it."

The quarterbacks' meeting room and film sessions are tension free, Richt said.

"There is a camaraderie that's special in there," he said. "I just don't see those guys having a problem."

Still, Richt knows, it will only take the smallest crack to upset his carefully crafted harmony.

"All it takes is one game where everybody can point to it and say you lost the game because of it," he said. "If we get beat because one of them plays crummy or makes one bad decision, (people will say it's) because of the two-quarterback system. I'd rather blame the system than the player, so that's OK with me."

UGA QB Rotations

St

Gm

Att

Cmp

Yds

TDs

Rush

2002

David Greene

14

14

379

218

2,924

22

(-52)

D.J. Shockley

10

52

32

415

5

175

Bulldogs record: 13-1

1987

James Jackson

10

11

132

67

1,026

7

519

Wayne Johnson

1

8

45

17

281

97

Bulldogs record: 8-3

1985

James Jackson

8

10

112

51

759

2

389

Wayne Johnson

3

9

52

21

222

1

74

Bulldogs record: 7-3-2

1979

Buck Belue

NR

10

112

59

719

8

215

Jeff Pyburn

NR

9

75

43

565

1

38

Bulldogs record: 6-5

1977

Jeff Pyburn

NR

8

55

25

312

2

348

Randy Cook

NR

7

41

12

124

70

Steve Rogers

NR

8

24

11

115

32

Bulldogs record: 5-6

1976

Ray Goff

NR

11

29

18

322

4

724*

Matt Robinson

NR

11

81

36

609

7

(-16)

Bulldogs record: 10-1

* Goff was listed as the starter that season and was named SEC Player of the Year